TORONTO — When it comes to reducing the size of goaltending equipment, the NHL is still trying to get smaller. But the deadline for implementing any new gear is also shrinking by the day.

After introducing form-fitting pants in February, the league was hoping to roll out Phase 2 of its lululemon-like equipment line in time for this season with contoured chest protectors that were tailored to each individual goalie’s body type.

The problem? The chest protectors are still stuck on the assembly line and might not be ready for the start of the season.

“It’s like building a house,” Kay Whitmore, the NHL’s goaltending supervisor, told Postmedia in a phone interview. “There’s things that you can’t control. I wish there was something we could do to make these guys deliver. But hopefully it can still happen.”

So far, it appears that only a handful of goalies — the ones who wear Brian’s equipment — have received the new chest protectors. Bauer, Reebok/CCM and Vaughan, meanwhile, are still working on a finished product.

Whitmore, who appears to be getting more impatient by the minute, said he is hopeful that all of the goalies will receive the new equipment before the season begins. But with training camp underway, it might already be too late. Goalies should have been wearing and getting used to this gear weeks — if not months — ago.

“I think at some point, you should start planning a little ahead or making a deadline — the switchover — further ahead,” Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen told Postmedia on Monday. “It feels like it’s the same thing again, like they’re rushing.”

In this Aug. 17, 2011 file photo, current NHL goaltending supervisor Kay Whitmore coaches at the league’s Research Development and Orientation Camp in Toronto.Dave Sandford /
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A year ago, the league was supposed to have its new slimmer goalie pants ready in time for the start of the season. But there were unforeseen delays and the goalies did not actually get them into their hands until January or February.

“I personally don’t agree with changing things in the middle of the year,” Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk told the Star Tribune at the time. “My problem is every goalie’s different, and I don’t like to change my equipment. I haven’t worn a new pair of pants in the middle of year before, and now I’m being forced to, which is a frustrating scenario.”

If goalies are frustrated, the league feels their pain. This wasn’t supposed to take this long or be this complicated. The NHL had actually planned on implementing new pants and chest protectors for the start of last season, but the logistics involved in designing and manufacturing a tailor-made chest protector turned into a bit of a nightmare.

It wasn’t the goalies so much as the manufacturers. Two years ago, in an attempt to reduce scoring and level the playing field, Whitmore went around the league taking detailed measurements of the length of each goalie’s arms, as well as the curvature of their biceps and shoulder. A sizing scale was devised so that the Vancouver Canucks’ Ryan Miller, who is 6-foot-2 and 168 pounds, would look significantly different than someone like 6-foot-5 and 240-pound Robin Lehner of the Buffalo Sabres.

The problem is that there are four different manufacturers and getting them all on the same page has been difficult. Goalies had wanted the new gear by mid-August, so that they could try it out before training camp. Now it looks like it might not be ready for the start of the season.

“We missed the target goal at the start of the season, but we’re further along than ever before,” said Whitmore, who is trying to be optimistic. “When you see the difference, it’s drastic. It’s more noticeable than what we did with the pants.”

That is both good and bad. It is clear that goalies do not want to have to go through what they did last year in having to adjust mid-season to new equipment, especially if the change is even more pronounced. And you can’t blame them.

As Andersen said, because there are now more openings created above the shoulder and underneath the armpit, it could change how far a goalie has to come out to take away a shooter’s angle. As well, chest protectors are not like pants. Goalies like them worked in, not out, of the wrapper.

Dubnyk has been wearing the same sweat-stained chest protector since his junior playing days. Andersen got his when he broke into the NHL.

“I’ve had the same chest protector for four years now,” said the Leafs goalie, who has not received the new prototype. “I’ve been working in a new one in right now. It’s a lot tougher to switch over the chest protector mid-season than it is the pants. It’s a bigger jump.

“I know they work hard to do stuff, but it’s a long process, so instead of putting it in mid-season, maybe we should just push it over to next year so everyone has equal time to get into it.”

Smaller gear might not lead to more scoring: Andersen

Frederik Andersen said he is all for making goalie equipment smaller. But the Toronto Maple Leafs goalie isn’t sure it will necessarily lead to increased scoring.

“I don’t know that it’s the only reason scoring is down,” he said. “I think we get discredited a lot for the work that goalies do to get better. I think people are quick to forget about that and put the blame on big equipment.”

Andersen said he didn’t notice much of a difference last season when goalies were given new, slimmer pants. But he is hopeful that a change to a more contoured chest protector will help increase a goaltender’s athleticism.

“As for the athletic part of it, sometimes people misunderstand what is an athletic goalie,” said Andersen. “It’s not one who sprawls everywhere. I think to be an athletic goalie means to be really composed and efficient in your movements, and be able to stay in that same body position longer. I think it’s almost if you can make it look easy, it’s harder than guys who are flopping around and making big saves. That’s just my two cents.”

Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has released its last budget before the fall federal election

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